Tuscola’s National Day of Reading the Constitution begins at 4 p.m. July 8
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The National Day of Reading the Constitution is July 8. Tuscola’s event begins at 4 p.m. on the lawn at the Douglas County Courthouse (rain location is the Tuscola Community Building.
The tentative schedule calls for free lemonade, cookies, and popcorn. At 4:30 p.m., the ceremony begins with Mike Carroll serving as master of ceremonies. At 4:40 p.m., Frank Lincoln will lead the Pledge of Allegiance.
The Tuscola High School honors choir will then sing the National Anthem at 4:45 p.m. At 5 p.m., Kim McGee will begin reading the Constitution in period costume.
At 5:15 p.m., David Porter will lead the gathering in reciting the American’s Creed. The Newman Color Guard will retire the colors around 5:20 p.m. Col. Larry F. Icenogle (retired) will then play Taps. The event concludes at 5:30 p.m.
The event is sponsored by the City of Tuscola, the Stephen A. Douglas Chapter NSDAR, and the Douglas County Museum.
Col. Icenogle
Col. Icenogle, a 1967 graduate of Arthur High School, has been a member of Bugles Across America since 2014 and is the most active “live” bugler with Riverside National Cemetery’s Memorial Honor Detail, having sounded Taps for more than 4,165 veterans. He is a recent recipient of the Army War College Foundation’s Outstanding Alumnus Service Award for his work as a Taps bugler.
His musical background includes playing trumpet in high school and college. He has been a member of the Barbershop Harmony Society since 2006, sang with The Choirboys quintet, and now sings with Masters of Harmony.
After graduating from the University of Iowa, Icenogle was commissioned an Armor Lieutenant through ROTC. His military assignments included stateside tours, two Pentagon assignments, and three overseas tours in Germany — two with the 37th Armored Regiment, of which he is a Distinguished Member — along with deployments to the Balkans, Africa and elsewhere. He also held extensive Public Affairs assignments in Europe and the Middle East during the 1990s. Following his military career, he served in Department of Defense civilian Public Affairs work, retiring from Fort Sill, Oklahoma, in 2012. In May 2019, he received the Army Public Affairs Association’s Joe Galloway Lifetime Achievement Award.
Icenogle and his wife, Mary, live in California. He is a charter member of VFW Post 11456, a member of American Legion Post 13, and a twice-decorated member of the U.S. Cavalry and Armor Association (#28740).
American’s Creed
“I believe in the United States of America as a government of the people, by the people, for the people; whose just powers are derived from the consent of the governed, a democracy in a republic, a sovereign Nation of many sovereign States; a perfect union, one and inseparable; established upon those principles of freedom, equality, justice, and humanity for which American patriots sacrificed their lives and fortunes.
“I therefore believe it is my duty to my country to love it, to support its Constitution, to obey its laws, to respect its flag, and to defend it against all enemies.”
–Written by William Tyler Page in 1917, and accepted by the United States House of Representatives on April 3, 1918.